Celtics’ Offensive Struggles Laid Bare By One Key Stat

The Boston Celtics have endured a tough start to the 2024-25 NBA season. Joe Mazzulla’s roster is filled with fresh faces who are all learning how to coexist on the court. Brad Stevens presided over significant roster turnover this summer as he sought to get the Celtics beneath the second luxury tax apron.

With Jayson Tatum sidelined due to an Achilles tendon injury, Jaylen Brown is leading Boston’s offense. However, that has left the Celtics short on a secondary scoring option, as both Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are struggling from the field to begin the season.

On Wednesday, CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell shared a stat that highlights Boston’s lack of secondary and tertiary scoring.

“Strange stat I came across — the Celtics are the ONLY team in the NBA with just 1 player averaging more than 15 points per game Jaylen Brown is averaging 26.8 points per game Payton Pritchard is next with 15.0 points Don’t think this will hold, but was surprised to see,” Dalzell wrote on X.

The Celtics currently sit 18th in the NBA for offensive rating. The up-tempo offense so frequently discussed during training camp has yet to materialize, with Boston sitting dead last in the league for pace of play.

Fortunately for Boston, White and Pritchard are too good to struggle for much longer. Eventually, their shots will start falling, at which point the Celtics’ offense should improve.

Mazzulla’s team currently holds a 3-5 record over the first eight games of the new season and will face the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Considering the Wizards have one of the worst defenses in the NBA (27th overall), that would be an ideal game for White and Pritchard to rediscover their scoring touch.